It was an iconic moment etched in American history followed by 50-plus years of activism he hopes lends him a bit of credibility as he addresses 36 of Lee County’s finest in the classroom and on the athletic fields, who Smith called the most important generation.

While he planned to address aspects of his stand for human rights, the most important part will be the ongoing challenge he laid out for that generation he hopes strives for a life of happiness.

Fifty years after he raised his fist in silent protest atop the medal stand at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City in protest of racial injustice, Tommie Smith will speak to student-athletes the 2019 Rotary of Fort Myers South Scholar-Athlete Awards banquet on Wednesday.(Photo: The Associated Press)

"They’re leaving an area where they have to sit, take tests and devour back what the teacher wants to hear," Smith said. "Now, they're going to have a world audience in no time at all because they're our next generation."

"A speech should leave something behind. Something the students would understand and be challenged with."

Smith was 24 years old when he represented the United States in Mexico City, winning gold in the 200 meters by way of a world-record time of 19.83 seconds. As members of the Olympic Project for Human Rights, Smith and teammate John Carlos, who won bronze, took the medal stand barefoot, wearing beads with OPHR buttons raising their black-gloved fists.

The silent protest resulted in the International Olympic Committee suspending Smith and Carlos from the U.S. team and their banishment from the Olympic Village but birthed Smith’s lifelong commitment to advancing human rights.

His stand along with those of boxing legend Muhammad Ali, Cleveland Browns great Jim Brown and Boston Celtics icon Bill Russell gave way to current athletes like former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick and Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James using their platforms to protest against racial injustice.

Having taught sociology at Oberlin College in Ohio until 2005, Smith said he believed his message at the 1968 Games was misrepresented over time. He disagreed with the notion that his clenched fist pointed toward the sky was solely a symbol of Black Power.

"It looked like it to a lot of people. That's why a lot of people didn't understand it," Smith said. "That's the only platform I had. I was a student-athlete. I hadn't even graduated college yet. Of course, I didn't have in my mind verbally what I wanted to say. It was a feeling. It was educational background from my feeling that you saw.

“Talking about this now all over the world, especially in the United States, directly with the issue of racism about the feeling I had then. I had to go human because I had to reach more people than just black people or Hispanic people. It was not a stand of hate at all. It was a stand of solidarity, a stand of togetherness, a united thought process moving forward."

Tommie Smith, center, and John Carlos, right, raise their fists on the medal stand after winning the gold and bronze medals, respectively, in the 200 meters at the 1968 Olympics. Silver medalist Peter Norman of Australia is at left.(Photo: John Dominis)

The 74-year old speaks a minimum of 10 times a year and a maximum of 35 times. And he’s done so all over the world. He said he’s no stranger to speaking in rooms lacking diversity, referring to times he spoke Russia and Germany as well in front conservative-minded crowds at Merck & Co. and the Lockheed Martin Corporation.

The chance to hear different viewpoints is one Smith embraces.

"We all have our limitations and no matter how hard we try there are going to be people that say, 'That's wrong,'" Smith said. "There are going to be a lot of people who look at it a different way and say, 'They should not have said that or they should not have worn this.' We have to maintain the thought through the act of communication of why did this happen? Not that it did happen, we have to stop that. There's no such thing as stopping in this society. There's continuing. But what is necessary is asking if there's other directions other than your avenue. We must consider the act of thought, the act of love, the actual mission of one's need to strive toward love and how effective that love is."

Civil discourse is the first step toward change, Smith explained. Listening to other viewpoints with an open mind will be the message the 2008 Arthur Ashe Award for Courage recipient delivers to the scholar-athletes.

"Talk beyond the skin and open the minds up to talk about whatever they want to talk about but have an open mind to hear as they deliver," Smith said. "They don't have to like it, but at least they can hear it. Don't walk out with your lips dragging on the ground, meaning mad. That's how nothing gets done when you can't hear the other one because of strife, because of madness. Keep an open mind and deal with the issues as divulged by the giver, not the receiver."

Fifty years after he raised his fist in silent protest atop the medal stand at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City in protest of racial injustice, Tommie Smith will speak to student-athletes the 2019 Rotary of Fort Myers South Scholar-Athlete Awards banquet on Wednesday.(Photo: The Associated Press)

While Smith admits human rights have taken several steps forward and a handful of steps back at times, he is hopeful because of the generation of future leaders that will be sitting in front of him Tuesday night.

"I am convinced of a future. But what type of future is the important factor," Smith said. "We have to work on leaving something now so the future can survive better than it is now."